The 43-car field Sunday is now set based on speeds from the first practice session on the 2.66-mile trioval. That means Aric Almirola will start from the pole, with Jeff Burton claiming the outside spot on the front row. Almirola's teammate, Marcus Ambrose, gets the third spot.

Series leader Matt Kenseth will start from the 12th spot. His closest challenger, Jimmie Johnson, is in the 11th position.

Officials attempted to dry the track, but the rain continued through midday. With a truck race scheduled for Saturday afternoon and no lights at Talladega, NASCAR ran out of time to get in the qualifying session.